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WHO Says Mutation Found in Swine Flu Virus
The WHO also underlined that there was no evidence of more infections or more deaths as a result, while the antiviral drugs used to treat severe flu, oseltamivir (Tamiflu) and zanamivir (Relenza), were still effective on the mutated virus.
"Studies show that currently available pandemic vaccines confer protection," it added, as mass vaccine campaigns were slowly gaining ground in the northern hemisphere amid signs of public skepticism in several European nations.
Scientists fear that mutations in flu viruses could cause more virulent and deadly pandemic flu. The global health watchdog reiterated a call for close monitoring.
The WHO was still assessing the significance of the latest observation, but it stressed that many such changes in the flu virus do not alter the illness it causes in patients.
"Although further investigation is under way, no evidence currently suggests that these mutations are leading to an unusual increase in the number of H1N1 infections or a greater number of severe or fatal cases," it added.
Norwegian authorities reported the country's first swine flu death on September 3, a 52 year-old Danish truck driver who died just over a week earlier.
On Friday, WHO data showed reported that around 6,750 people had died from swine flu since the virus was first uncovered in Mexico and the United States in April.
That represented an increase of about 500 more than a week ago, as the pandemic took hold in the northern hemisphere during the cold season
The WHO estimates that some 250,000 to 500,000 people die every year from standard seasonal variants of swine flu.
Source-AFP
RAS
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